PSA: Microsoft Outlook intruder worse than expected, hackers could read emails from 6% of users concerned

Microsoft revealed that the credentials of one of its technical support agents had been compromised, allowing unauthorized third parties to access information from a "limited subset" "users, including e-mail addresses, folder names, subject lines, and the names of recent recipients, between January 1 and March 28, 2019.

The situation is worsening, unfortunately. In a statement to The edge, Microsoft said that unauthorized parties had access to the actual content of about 6% of the relevant email accounts, as indicated by Motherboard.

In an email to the relevant users shared by TechCrunchMicrosoft said it blocked this unauthorized access, disabled compromised account passwords, and enhanced detection and monitoring to better protect users. Microsoft recommends that users change their passwords as a precaution.

The violation affected a "limited subset" of Microsoft-managed email accounts, including Outlook, MSN, and Hotmail e-mail addresses. No client company appears to be affected, according to TechCrunch.

Microsoft informed the affected users that it did not know why the information had been viewed or how it could have been used. The company has not yet revealed how it discovered the breach, how the support agent's identification information was compromised, or whether the agent was a Microsoft employee, according to TechCrunch.